Intern Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my experience on the EY internship programme. I felt supported throughout my 6 weeks. Beginning with a 3 day induction provided me with a great insight into the company and my individual office. It also allowed me to network and meet people from across Scotland in the same position as I. Socials were set up at least every second week to allow us to meet everyone in the office and to settle in. From start to finish, it was clear that student recruitment wanted us to enjoy the experience.

I can’t explain how friendly everyone in the office was. I didn’t come across a single rude or difficult person, which I guess you wouldn’t expect in such a large office. Despite being busy, my team were more than happy to sit with me and answer all of my questions or just chat to me about life. They made me feel so welcome and made me feel like I was actually adding something to the company! They even surprised me with a cake and a card at the end of the internship to thank me for my hard work!

The staff I worked for couldn’t have been more helpful. They were clear in their instruction and allocated more than enough time for me to ask questions in order to fully understand the work. They were keen for me not only to understand the task in hand, but gain an understanding of the full picture.

At times I was very busy and at times, I did have to do admin work whilst I waited for clients to send over documents. However, the team were all great at searching for things for me to do, so that I wasn’t left with admin and training WBLs for too long!

I was given a lot of responsibility. I filled the position of a first year who had just gone off to ICAS. Therefore, I was assigned a full control task. I documented everything, wrote the controls and attended walkthroughs where I was able to question the client on their processes. I must add that my experience will have been very different to others as I was in Financial Services rather than UK&I. This section of the business is only in certain offices and, despite being a huge operation, is not covered in much detail at any recruitment event.

I couldn’t believe how relevant my accounting and finance degree was. It sounds silly saying that, but going through Uni you did start to think that what you’re learning is pointless. However, my degree could not have set me up any better for the internship. I felt I had a sound understanding of the banking industry going in, so the internship has only built on that further. I can’t wait to take this knowledge back to Uni and apply it all the my dissertation. Additionally, the workload and regular hours will definitely aid my studying!

Everyone was super friendly and chatty. As focused as they were on getting work done and to a high standard, everyone always had time for a chat or a coffee break! Walking into the office, you got the sense that everyone had made genuine friendships within their teams. Most people socialise outside of work, both at EY planned events and personal engagements. The people make the business.

I think the fact that, despite there being 4 interns on the RBS team, everyone in my team knew my name without me having to tell them, says a lot. They knew all about each of us and were excited to have us on the team. They had work set up ready for us and had a clear plan of what we would be doing for the 6 weeks. Additionally, student recruitment were incredibly organised with catch-ups throughout the internship to ensure that we were enjoying ourselves and that everything was running smoothly. I felt that this was of great importance as it provided us with support and helped us to settle in quicker.

I don’t think I can comment on this as I was only in the business for 6 weeks. There’s not a lot anyone can do in 6 weeks. The focus was more on allowing us to get a feel of the business rather than taking some time away to do training. I do know however, that the place a lot of emphasis on training for full time staff.

I would love to work for EY. Since they came to my school in third year, I have always wanted to work for them. Not only are the people great, the training they provide is second to none. What a great opportunity it would be! I cannot put into words how appealing it would be!

I have seen my fellow interns outside of work many times and we plan to meet up throughout the year, despite having finished our internships and now living in different cities. I have made some great friends and I know that this is true for the majority of the staff that I have come across in my time on the SIP.

Edinburgh isn’t the cheapest city, but it’s nowhere near the scale of London. I don’t notice it too much, However, as I was born here. The only difference I notice is that it is a lot more expensive that my Uni city (Glasgow). However, Edinburgh is a great city to work in and the work-life balance is just right.

Edinburgh’s bar scene is great. It’s definitely getting more world-wide recognition for this. Let’s not talk about the clubs though - they haven’t quite mastered that.

The social committee are very proactive in arranging socials every two weeks and having weekly events in the office too. There are so many opportunities to get to know colleagues both inside and outside of the office. Everyone is very enthusiastic about the socials and want to get involved! Additionally, the socials are all very different, so there’s something for everyone!